Riviera Country Club Review

Thomas and Bell were handed a canyon below the Santa Monica Mountains and built the course on its floor, which is why the first tee sits beside the clubhouse high above the fairway and the walk down is the best opening view in American golf. A barranca runs through the property and is in play on half a dozen holes. The sixth green has a bunker in the middle of it, an idea nobody else has ever made work.

The tenth is 315 yards, drivable, and set at an angle that makes laying up harder than going for it, and it has been copied more than any other short par four in the game. Kikuyu grass covers the fairways and the rough, which divides opinion: it sits the ball up beautifully in the fairway and grabs the hosel in the rough, and it is the single biggest reason scores here stay honest.

The Genesis Invitational came back for its hundredth playing in February 2026, a year after the Palisades fire sent it to Torrey Pines, the U.S. Women's Open followed in June, and the 2028 Olympics will be played on the same ground. None of which helps a visitor. Riviera is a private club with no public rate, and an invitation from a member is the only way through the gate.